The new Labour government won the election, mainly because it said it was going to invest more in public services, without defining exctly how it wished to fund them.
Now they are in power, they are trying to justify raising taxes by claiming the last government left behind a mess and only increasing taxes will solve the problem.
Naturally, everyone then targets someone other than themselves to pay for the services: big corporations, rich people, and so on. Unfortunately, big corporations are very capable of moving profits offshore and rich people can move overseas easily enough.
And so higher taxes fall on whoever is left behind, particularly those with few choices, such as old people with a small nest egg that they have saved up, perhaps hoping to leave something to their children.
Nope, that is mine, the Labour government will say.
Next election, people will be moaning about government services and high taxes, just what they said they wanted at the recent election. They thought someone else would pay. Instead, tax bills will increase for most everyone. Oy vey.
It's almost comical to watch because it is all so predictable. There just isn't so much a government can achieve. We think we are driving along a road with hairpin bends, around which we turn 180 degrees backwards and forwards up the mountain of economic and social progress, when in fact we have a steering wheel that allows us to make minor course adjustments and we're doing well just to stay on the road.
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